Hector loitered at his desk long after it was time to go home. Since he had overheard Arthur congratulating Andrew after his wedding reception, he had felt that sense of desperation return, the one that he felt whenever he feared he might be losing the upper hand. He knew it was time to take action again. He wasn't sure what that action was going to be, but he knew that he couldn't do anything until he was alone at the office. He glanced at his watch again. It was nearly 5:30 and still the office wasn't empty yet. He decided to see what was going on for himself.
Casually, Hector walked past a cubicle where Blaine, Jerry, and Reese were working at one of the computers. "Hey, guys. I guess I'm not the only one working late tonight."
Jerry eyed Hector and silently turned his attention back to the monitor. Blaine turned around to chat with Hector. "Yeah. Mr. Townsend asked us to come in late and look up some information."
Hector nodded. "Special project, huh? What is it this time?"
Blaine started to reply, but Jerry spoke up first. "I think if Mr. Townsend wanted you to know, he would have told you."
Hector made a show of backing off. "Fair enough."
Blaine, wanting to make peace asked Hector, "So the boss has you working late too?"
"No, I'm just getting caught up on a few things," Hector replied, glancing over Blaine's shoulder, trying to get a peek at the monitor. If Reese was gathering any information about the lawsuit, he wanted to know what it was. Hector turned back to Blaine and tried to keep the conversation going, while he stole glances at the monitor.
"I think that's it," Reese said a moment later, as she backed away from the computer.
Blaine turned back to the screen to check for himself. "Great. Go ahead and shut it down and we can get out of here for tonight."
Hector frowned as the screen went black. He still hadn't seen what they were working on. "Hey, I'm headed out too," he said. "Since we're all leaving now, why don't we go out for a drink or something?"
"Sounds good to me," Blaine agreed and then turned to Jerry and Reese, awaiting their answers.
Jerry shook his head. "I've got to get home. The wife will be waiting for me."
"Reese?"
She shrugged, "Sure, why not?"
Hector picked out a little pub not far from the office and the group settled in at a corner table. Hector tried to steer the conversation towards the work they were doing in the office and the lawsuit, but Reese was very closed mouthed on both topics and Blaine seemed clueless. Hector was starting to feel like he was on a completely different wavelength. Finally he gave up. Reese and Blaine were set on having their own conversation and they weren't saying anything that was useful to him.
"You know, it's later than I thought," Hector said as he rose from his seat. "I should get home. I'll see you both at the office."
Hector walked away from the table, leaving Blaine and Reese feeling suddenly awkward, now that it was just the two of them.
Instead of going home, Hector went back to the office. He was determined to find out what the others had been working on, so he went back to the computer they had been using and tried to see what he could recall.
He tapped away at the keyboard for several minutes before finding the screen that Reese had been working on. He studied the screen and realized that he was in the company's financial records. Immediately, he was relieved that the secret after hours investigation had nothing to do with Clifford's murder, but then he became curious and browsed through the information, seeing what he could find.
Hector was just starting to make sense of his findings when he thought he heard a noise. He sat still for a moment, listening. When he heard another bump, he carefully reached over to turn off the monitor, but he couldn't reach it in time. Someone was leaving Arthur's office.
It was Eileen.
Eileen turned from closing the office door to see Hector sitting behind one of the computers. The light from the monitor cast his face in a sinister glow and for a brief second she actually felt afraid of him. For a few moments neither of them moved or spoke. Finally Hector made the first move and moved quickly towards Eileen. He grabbed her gently by the arm. "Eileen? What are you doing here?"
Eileen didn't want to answer that question, but for some reason, she found herself unable to lie and the whole truth came out. "I'm short on money since my dad has limited my allowance, so I'm borrowing some from his petty cash to pay for my psychic class. I've got a job and I'm going to pay him back as soon as I can. You won't say anything will you?"
A wide grin spread over Hector's face. "Of course not. I promise, you can count on me to cover for you."
Eileen tried to smile back, but did a poor job of it. She felt bad enough about what she had done, but now Hector's support, which should have been reassuring, only made her feel even more uneasy.
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